Include the page title

If you position the breadcrumb using either method 1 or 2 (read above) you should include the page title. If you use the third way you should omit it because the title is displayed directly below it (like on this page)

Do not include "You are Here:"

It only ads to the clutter of your page and breadcrumb navigation will work just fine without.

Always include the full path

Do not link the active page

If you are standing on "Home &gt; Products &gt; Office Lights", only link the preceding sections. Linking to the same page is called self-links and is generally confusing because you are going in a loop when you click on it.

Clearly differentiate links vs. page titles

Make it obvious what part of the breadcrumb is clickable.

Use the same link style as your other navigational elements

Breadcrumbs are a navigational tool and so you should style it the same way as you style other navigational elements. This will increase consistency and maker it more obvious what it is. On this site I have one style for navigational elements (dark-orange, no underline) vs. content links (blue, no underline).

Do not include breadcrumbs on you front page

Front page breadcrumbs are often a mistake because it only contains "Home" - it is not even linked. Your visitors will most likely be confused about this single word, and not get the idea before they visit a sub page.

Use Home for Home

For international English sites use the word "Home" as the link text to the front page. Exceptions: When making localized sites "Home" needs to be translated - e.g. in Denmark it would be "Forside". Also when making non-international sites for visitors in UK; "Home" can be replaced with the UK-English variation "Frontpage"

Use a forward arrow to indicate the path

This could be ">" or a similar symbol or graphics. Do not use vertical symbols ":","|" or similar vertical separators as they indicate alternatives. I would also stay away from "/" or "" because it makes the breadcrumb look like program language.

Ensure consistency between the page address and the breadcrumb

Make sure that you sites structure is similar to your breadcrumb. E.g. Do not make the address of your page "www.company.com/press/new/spots" with a breadcrumb showing "Home &gt; Products &gt; Office Lights &gt; Spots".